Insults Falling Upon Us

One of the local channels in our area plays Ghost Whisperer for three hours straight every afternoon/early evening.

I never watched the show before, but now that it's always on, I have managed to catch a few episodes. In one particular episode, Melinda, the main character who helps spirits "cross over" to the light, is having a conversation with her friend who has come to believe that Melinda can actually see ghosts, though her friend remains skeptical by default. At one point, Melinda acts hurt and goes on and on about being able to believe in more than what can be seen with our eyes. She also implies that her friendship will be compromised by her friend's disbelief and lack of trust in her.

This 30 second blip in the show brought me up short because I have heard versions of this conversation in church and in politics.

AVI had a post up in September about Evangelical Suspiciousness that may be tangentially relevant. In the comments section he wonders aloud about otherwise seemingly normal, bright people with fringe beliefs, who are strongly anti-vaccination, or convinced 9/11 Truthers etc.

I have had this happen to me before. It's unsettling to be in conversation with a person and realize that they have latched onto something you consider kind of wacky and misguided. When you respect someone for their other intellectual positions, or maybe have even looked up to that person, and you find a cognitive fault in their reasoning it does make you rethink your evaluation of them.

If they are so off-course in this area, how do you know they're not off-course in other areas?

Besides the implications for the particular image we have in our minds about people like this, there is also a sense that there is no room for conversation with someone who is heavily invested in "fringe" ideas. To disagree with them, or question their positions is to personally offend them.

When DH and I left the non-denominational church that we had been a part of for years, because the pastor had decided to push some new ideas and doctrines that relied heavily on experiences with "Demonic Oppression", I remember having the same types of thoughts.

Even though I strongly disagreed with where our church was going, along with about 1/2 of the congregation, I had the following thoughts,"How could I be right and a well-educated pastor of almost 20 years be wrong about something like this? It's his job to know this stuff. He has had way more experience than I ever will with people. How could I be right and he be wrong?"

At one meeting, when the pastor was trying to make his case and let everyone know that only people who were on board with his new teaching would be allowed in leadership, he asked the doubting crowd,"Do you think I am making this up? Do you think that I am crazy? Don't you trust me?" He pressed the people to accept his teaching because of their relationship with him, and when they couldn't believe for themselves, he asked them to believe because of him.

Except most of us couldn't. We weren't ready to sign up for a strong belief that every addiction, marital problem, or spiritual struggle was the result of us being oppressed by demons, necessitating a special "healing and deliverance" ritual.

He manipulated people. He shamed people into listening to him because of who he was, rather than listening because he was right. His outrage at our "unbelief" was personal. Not believing his teaching was the same as not believing him. There was no room for disagreement. We either believed what he said, or considered him a liar, from his perspective.

When we have strong religious or political beliefs, we tend to identify ourselves by those ideas, and the rejection of those ideas feels like a rejection of ourselves. I have seen this in myself. There have been times when I will be reading a blog and the blogger's sharp criticism towards someone, or something, that might be close in comparison to who or what I imagine myself to be stings me. I have to purposely shelve my feelings and remind myself that it's not about me, though I am not always successful at it.

There are times when I feel like the Psalmist:

Psalm 69:8-9

8 I am a stranger to my brothers,
an alien to my own mother's sons;

9 for zeal for your house consumes me,
and the insults of those who insult you fall on me.

Minus the "zeal for your house" part...because I feel this way frequently in many other situations which are not religiously themed. Still, the feeling represents the situation accurately. The insults of those who insult our beliefs fall upon us.

The Psalmist goes on to ask God to take care of those mockers, blotting them out of the Book of Life, letting His wrath fall upon them and overwhelm them.

I'm not sure that's the object lesson we want to take from that particular Psalm, though it reminds me of Retriever's post today about Psalm 127 and how the pastor planned to preach on it. I didn't bother to leave a comment on her post about how I used to read this Psalm in exactly the way her pastor planned on presenting it! Her insult for the pastor's methods fell upon me also....even though I don't read the Psalms like that anymore.

It's funny how we align ourselves with ideas and movements and attach so many personal feelings and emotions to them that we seem incapable of hearing them abused without feeling the arrow dig into our heart a little bit.

Chatty Men

Fixing up my father's house has required me to hire all kinds of workers.

Plumbers, electricians, contractors, lawn maintenance workers, tree trimmers, flooring installers.....etc.

They have all been men. They have all been ordinary, blue-collar, working class men with calloused hands, manly banter and gruff exteriors.

However..they are a very chatty bunch!

Maybe I give off the air of sister/wife/mother/generic female stand-in...but I am always surprised by the things they talk to me about while they are working and the openness with which they speak. I don't know if there's something about me that draws them out, or if the stereotype of silent, unemotional men is simply untrue.

They tell me about their divorces, about their wallets getting stolen but how it's no big deal because their credit cards are maxed out anyway and they can't make the minimum payments, about their plans for retirement, about their wives, about their health scares, about the towns that they grew up in and what brought them to Florida.

It's quite strange how completely honest and talkative they are.

Maybe it's the nature of their jobs. Not only are they practicing a trade, but they are required to constantly interact with people, going from home to home and trying to please their customers. They're probably used to the forced intimacy of working in their client's private spaces, surrounded by the tokens and photos of family life that fill most homes.

It's also been heart-warming to see how many of these guys work in close partnership with a "buddy" of some sort. Father and son, cousins, brothers, lifelong friends...they seem to come in deeply bonded pairs.

I don't know that I have noticed a correspondence in the women I know. I can't think of any common, similar working partnerships that are as prevalent among women.

I don't know what it means...but it's interesting.

What's In A Name?

Many years ago when DH and I were in the early stage of our relationship before we were married, we wandered through a posh bookstore in Palo Alto. It had a second floor, jazz music playing, and the cool, hip kind of people with dreadlocks and hemp chokers embellished with small shells.

We browsed through the store, pointing out things we found interesting, curious if our interests would match up.

We came across a display in the middle of the store, piled high with books on numerous subjects. DH picked up a book on the meaning of names and decided to look mine up. I don't remember all of the meanings ascribed to my name. The usual is "harvester". However, this description's most prominent meaning was "competent".

DH thought this was hilarious. I was "competent", scare quotes inferred from his laughter.

I was happy with that description. In fact, I thought it was downright praise-worthy. I'd much rather be competent than incompetent.

I realized that we had a different sense of what it meant to be competent. DH saw it as a term for someone who just squeaks by; not exceptional, not special, and possessing the bare minimum of abilities required for a task. I saw it as a mark of solid dependability. A competent person is self-reliant, possessing everything needed for the job, knowledgeable about what they're doing, and trustworthy.

As I've continued to deal with my father's house and estate, I'm always surprised at how many incompetent people I come across. From accountants and lawyers, to plumbers and contractors, the lack of professionalism has been astounding. At almost every turn I have had to correct, and straighten out people who have been in business in their respective careers for years. It's quite astonishing to me that many of them have succeeded.

A few examples:

Two out of three plumbers who were supposed to give me estimates on some work to be done never followed through. One actually came by, looked at what I need don and said he would call me with the numbers. I never heard from him again. The other plumber was supposed to come by one day and never showed up or called me back. I eventually hired someone else, and as that plumber was finishing the job, the other, absent plumber showed up....2 days after he was supposed to, without calling.

The amazing part was that I needed quite a bit of work done, so not following through cost the other plumbers at least $1,000.

I set an appointment with an accountant, two weeks in advance. I showed up to his office, and he wasn't there. His secretary apologized and said her boss was picking up bagels and coffee for the meeting. A half an hour later, he's still not there and hasn't called to say whether he was coming, or to apologize for being late. As I left, I told the secretary that I would have preferred an on-time accountant more than a bagel and coffee. What made it even worse was that I had noticed his price schedule at the office....he charged $275 for an hour's worth of work.

I had to hound my lawyer to file paperwork that needed to be filed by a certain date. I signed the papers I needed to and sent them immediately after receiving them. Almost three weeks later I get an e-mail asking me when I'm going to send those papers because the filing date has passed. After putting my exploding head back together, I send an e-mail explicitly stating that "I am not pleased" and pointing out that the head lawyer had already e-mailed me two weeks before that he was handling it.....and now they claim they don't even have the paperwork I sent.

Then, there's the insurance agent who sent me a bill for an extra $220 for a policy that was paid in full and expired 2 months ago, because the insurance company, three months after the policy was paid for, wanted to increase the coverage. So...I was supposed to pay for a coverage period which had already elapsed and which had been paid for at the rate that the insurance company provided. I quickly explained that I didn't think changing a contract for services after the terms were already agreed upon, and in force, could in any way be legal, and that I would rather throw the $220 in the toilet, because I would be getting the same value for that money anyway. The insurance agent said she understood and that she would handle it with the insurance company.

I could recount at least four more examples, some that are even more glaring, but I will spare you.

Competency is a precious thing.

Perhaps because we are so interested in being "exceptional" we fail to see that competency is the mark of a true professional. It's not exciting or sexy to be "competent"......but it's the competent people of the world that hold things together and get things done.

May my tombstone read "At least she was competent".

Recent Search Terms

Magic phrases Google associates with my blog:

1. can I hire someone to break up my marriage?

--I'm pretty sure that will happen all on its own once your spouse reads your search history.

2. annoyingly happy people

--are you looking for specific examples?

3. fairy breasts

--umm...OK....is this from a Dungeons and Dragons fan boy?  Should I post a picture of Liv Tyler from Lord of the Rings?

4. naked pictures

--I have a feeling this searcher was sorely disappointed

5. losing brain cells while naked

--I hear that happens to at least half the global population, particularly those with a Y chromosome.

6. How much does a dead or asleep body weigh?

--I couldn't help but imagine this came from a serial killer trying to decide how big of a drum he was going to need.

New Addition to the I-Pod

I have been obsessed with this song ever since I heard it on the Lincoln MKZ commercial.

It's a remake of an eighties New Wave song, Major Tom.

This version is by a group called Shiny Toy Guns.

Perfect for working out on the treadmill!

Ouch!

Last night I realized how much most of what I do, I do subconsciously...without even thinking about it.

After having cooked Mexican rice, which has to be in the oven for 20 minutes after starting off on the stove top, I burned my hand before I even realized what I was doing.

I reached out and grabbed the handle of the pan...the one which I had just taken out of a 350 degree oven..because I needed to move it slightly.

I didn't even realize I was trying to move it until searing pain shot through my hand.

Ouch!!  Giant blister on my palm.

It made me realize how frequently I am not present in my life.  I'm just running on auto-pilot while my brain is a thousand miles away from what I am actually doing.

Painful object lesson.

I'm totally bummed because I haven't been able to train for my 5K at all this week. I thought my sore hip was a result of the crazy garage sale weekend  from a few weeks ago and the training I've been doing.

Now, I think I have pinched a nerve. When things didn't seem to be getting better, I decided to take a few days off from working out. I was sure that was all I needed. It's getting to be close to a week and I'm still having pain that comes and goes depending on how I  move my leg.

Unfortunately I can never quite tell what range of motion will set it off. I'll be mid-sentence, walking through the house, and then let out a huge yelp.  

The only silver lining is that I now know my kids will come running to help me if I ever fall and can't get up. Every time I let an unpredictable groan escape my lips The Rationalist runs up to me with a worried expression and asking if I'm OK.

It's good to have someone who'll call 911 if they find you lying on the floor.

In the midst of this, I keep recognizing that cancer has made me a hypochondriac. Pain in my hip...that must be metastasis to my hip bones from breast cancer. The dizzy spell I experienced a week and a half ago....that must be brain mets.

It's crazy.  I know it's crazy and very unlikely.  I know it's crazy, very unlikely and statistically against the odds in my particular case......but that doesn't stop the fleeting thoughts from passing through my head.

Hopefully the crazy will pass as I get further and further away from active cancer treatment.  It probably won't ever completely disappear because every day for the next five years I will be reminded by my daily Tamoxifen pill, and the hot flashes it causes. Yet, as aches and pains take their normal course over time, I might be able to begin to trust that my body isn't trying to sabotage me.

You know what they say, though:"Just because I'm paranoid doesn't mean that someone's not out to get me."

Yeah....the crazy will pass.

Pure As The Driven Snow

Created by OnePlusYou - Free Online Dating

I have to say I was a little surprised by this one.  Not that I regularly curse on this site, but I thought there might have been some commenters in the past that have.  Or maybe a post or two in which I might have used even a tiny swear word.

But, I guess not.

When I was a kid, from about the age of 11-14, I went through a phase where I thought it was really cool to swear. Whenever we weren't around adults, my friends and I would use the most foul language we knew. Really foul. Sailor foul. Still-can't-say it-on-TV foul. We would take the long way home from school and make up new words to use, combining several four-letter words into one supercalifragilistic swear word.

I don't know why.  Maybe we were bored.  Maybe it was an easy way to rebel without actually doing something very serious. Maybe the adults in our lives were a horrible influence on us. Maybe we watched too much cable TV.

The funny thing is that I eventually completely dropped swear words from my vocabulary.  I was 14 and entering my sophomore year in high school. It occurred to me that swearing made me appear to be something I wasn't. I wasn't a dangerous, bad-girl, smoking cigarettes in the bathroom kind of person. I wasn't a punk anarchist, even if I did own a Violent Femmes album. 

It didn't fit me.

I also realized that swearing profusely alienates people.  It makes people uncomfortable.  They aren't sure what to say or how to react. They wonder if you might be a little off-kilter if every sentence is punctuated with f**k.

So bye-bye went my potty mouth.

Raising kids has taken the parsing of words to a whole new level.  What words, or expressions, do I let my kids use?  I know some parents who discourage all substitutes like "darn" or "heck" or "crap". "Darn" doesn't bother me. "Heck" is something I could tolerate, but I don't encourage. "Crap"....well, that just seems crass to me.  

What's funny is that a verboten term in our house is the word "stupid".  It's not allowed.  We don't call things or people stupid, or even dumb.  I would rather hear my children curse than use that word, especially if it's directed at somebody. It is so belittling and full of contempt. 

We also avoid the term "shut up".  See above paragraph for the reasoning.

This has led to some interesting encounters.  My brother and his wife, both Christian and conservative and not too different on issues than I am, allow their children to use "stupid" and "shut-up", but not "darn" and "heck". My kids respond with shock and horror when their cousins call something stupid, or say that they're doing something stupid.  

I guess that's the natural course of swearing.....offending people with words that mean nothing to us, but are shocking to them.

Anyway....feel assured dear reader. 

0% swear level on this blog

0%...as in, not once....ever.....like, since I created this blog over two years ago.

It's about damn time I was recognized for something. 

;-)

The Searing Truth

I participate in an online Breast Cancer support forum. It has been an immense help to go back and forth with other women my age who are going through treatment. The forum boards can be deadly serious, wildly crazy, political, hilarious....like just about any internet forum with little moderation.

Over the past week, one of the posters on the forum wrote that her 3-year-old son had died during Hurricane Ike along with his father, her ex. The boards overflowed with an outpouring of support and sympathy for her. Offers to help out. Expressions of grief.

Eventually, it was discovered that not only had this woman's child not passed away, but she didn't have one....and probably had never had breast cancer.

It was all a false identity......shocking but true.

This created something of a dilemma for the members of the forum, which consists of hundreds, if not thousands, of people. Those who were in the know tried to keep from publicly outing this person, out of a fear that she might be mentally ill and harm herself. Many private messages were sent back and forth, which expanded the amount of people who knew the truth, without publicly flogging this individual.

The problem was that members who had not been on the forum for a few days, and also new members, had no idea what was going on. They continued to post on the death announcement, conveying their condolences. Many were wanting to send cards, and even gift cards to help out financially.

Finally, someone made up a new account and anonymously detailed the whole story, listing all the evidence and exposing the deceit in all its glory....proven by the deceiver's own, very contradictory, posts from the past year.

Many people were upset about the public unmasking. They were worried about this individual and felt that letting everyone know would make her do something drastic.

I had started out feeling that way, but then came to the conclusion that the only way to have this person end her charade was to keep it public. If everyone knows the truth, her power to possibly scam members for money disappears.

The question I ask now:

Is there ever a time to keep a truth like this hidden?

I have come to believe that when an individual has harmed a community that they have been a part of, that only full truthfulness before that community is acceptable.

I've seen it happen in churches and in families.

When we try to hide the full truth because we are concerned about the individual, we inevitably harm the community they are a part of. When someone has issues with honesty, leaving things unspoken and partially hidden allows them to find a shadowy corner to cultivate their schemes and cling to the lies with people who are not informed about the entire truth.

Yet, when the whole truth is revealed, they must either capitulate, or run from the searing light of honesty, looking for a new community to infiltrate....beginning anew their cycle of deception.

The light of truth can be harsh, but also enlightening.

a note from a place called hiatus

The kids started school last week, missing one day on account of Tropical Storm Faye. Schools closed in order to be used as a shelters, but then the storm, which was originally supposed to come straight for us, veered and missed us completely.

Monkey has been home for the past three days with an unknown virus which has left him with a high fever and blisters all throughout his mouth. I took him to the doctor ASAP, sure it was strep throat, but the test came back negative. He has been miserable. I hate to see him so uncomfortable and know that I can't do anything about it.

In the meantime, I have realized how paranoid this cancer thing has made me. Before his mouth developed blisters, he was complaining of abdominal pain and had a fever. My mind immediately started thinking appendicitis because he wasn't throwing up or having diarrhea, just constant abdominal pain. Then, when the strep test came back negative, I researched things on the internet--always a bad idea when the panic quotient is high and the knowledge quotient is low--and found all kinds of horrible diseases that it could be.

When something you think is nothing turns out to be something dangerous, it makes you a little crazy when confronted with other somethings which are probably nothings...y'know?

sigh

I have watched a little bit of the DNC meetings, but missed the speech by Obama. My husband's groaning and eye-rolling as soon as he saw it were enough to persuade me it wasn't worth watching with him in the room. Not that I really cared about it. Speeches are just scripted rhetoric. I don't put much stock in them.

Discovering that McCain's choice for VP is a woman, who is also a governor, is kind of heartening. I don't know much about her yet, but am intrigued. However, my cynic-o-meter is jumping off the charts as I wonder if his pick is merely an attempt to seem as history-making as Obama...or maybe draw more conservative Hillary supporters to him. Either way...this election will bring a first to the White House.

I've been amusing myself by gazing at cute cats and dogs from http://www.icanhascheezburger.com/ and http://www.ihashotdog.com/.


see more puppies

I also came across a blog that I find fascinating, though I can't tell you why...other than maybe my envy at not being as well-traveled, and not having as many neat experiences, as Callie's in Japan.

Alien Spy Needs to Borrrow the Telephone

um...yeah..this story is completely credible.



It's good to know that aliens don't possess superior, intelligence-gathering technology and must rely on old-fashioned field work to study the human race.

We'll be able to hide all our secrets just by closing the curtains.

Links

Spot the generational assumption in daily conversations.

Horsemeat sushi?--this link is purely for the comment section that follows it---eating beef/chicken is A-OK...eating my little pony makes some people mad...also good discussion on the texture of cat and dog meat....just in case you wanted to know.

Older British people fight epidemic of sitting teenagers. HT to BHT.

Kids Rooock!

hehe...my favorite is towards the end....Axyl Rose's "Welcome to McDonalds!"

Belief, Doubt, and UFOs

Foxnews.com loves the attention grabbing headline. Earlier this month we could read about the Mexican UFO story: Spooky Flying Character Has UFO Watchers in Mexico Buzzing.

Now we have: Woman Wakes After Heart Stopped, Rigor Mortis Set In.

The UFO story links to a video of the "UFO". It is a little creepy, but I have to wonder why every picture of a UFO is blurry, from very far away, and lacking in detail. I mean, seriously, can't anyone get a good shot of one? We can get quality photos of Brangelina from 1000 ft away, but we can't have one decent photo, or video, of a UFO?

In regards to the Virginian resurrection woman, that's really awesome--an incredible beat-the-odds, medical miracle story. However, from what I have read, rigor mortis doesn't set in until about three hours after death...actual, physical death...not lack of brain waves, being kept alive by machines kind of death. It would have been nice if they had cleaned that up a bit.

I probably wouldn't have read the story then.

Besides the silly stories, it did get me thinking about belief and doubt. When I read the UFO story, and watched the video, I didn't expect to suddenly be persuaded that there were such things as UFOs. It's going to take more than fuzzy camera work to make me buy that one.

Which made me wonder; what would it take to make me believe something I now consider outrageous? If I stood in a canyon and saw a strange figure seemingly flying from cliff to cliff, what would my first reaction be? Confusion, probably. Skepticism, definitely. Sudden belief in UFO's, doubtful. It would take repeated exposure to unexplainable events to start steering me down that road. My first thought would be that it was a hoax.

In the case of the Virginian woman, my initial reaction to the headline's declaration was shock. After rigor mortis set in? Really? Of course, after reading a few versions of the story, it becomes obvious that rigor mortis had not set in. One of her son's made that statement, not a doctor. That doesn't detract from the fact that something remarkable happened to her. I have less trouble believing the "back from the dead" story then I do the UFO story.

But why is that?

Maybe because I can actually here the words of the "deceased" person on video? Maybe because there are innumerable witnesses, including her doctor, which can attest to what happened. Maybe, because I am a Christian, I am predisposed to believe in resurrection stories?

The UFO incident has witnesses, and video, and "experts"; yet, I give them no credence.

In turn, I started thinking about myself. I haven't prayed much about my cancer diagnosis. I prayed that the surgeries would go well. I prayed for strength, and for my kids; but I never prayed, "Lord, heal me." Perhaps, that is a reflection on my lack of faith. Maybe I don't really believe God heals people.

Part of it is based in not feeling like I need to bargain with God. I have faith that I'm going to be OK in the long run. I also recognize that many holy people have suffered far worse fates than mine. Just recently a well-loved pastor in our area died in a plane crash with his thirteen-year-old son. He was in the prime of his life, serving God as a pastor, and now he and his son are no longer here, leaving behind a wife and five other children.

Also recently, Steven Curtis Chapman, a singer I used to listen to voraciously when I first became a believer, is mourning the death of his five-year-old daughter....who was accidentally killed by her older brother when he was backing out an SUV in the family driveway.

The truth is that tragedy and death are always around the corner. People in China and Myanmar know this well. It is the norm, not the exception.

Not only is this the rule in obvious tragedies, like the ones mentioned, but in the life of every person I know.

On Mother's Day, DH and I were sitting in a Sunday School class at the church we have been visiting. The lesson started off with people listing all the wonderful attributes of mothers--beautiful, caring, supportive, wise--all the Hallmark sentiments. The leader went around the group asking everyone, "What wise instruction did your mother teach you?"

Everyone came up with something, and then it came to me, and I had to be a downer. I said, "Actually, this is the one question I can't answer honestly. My mother loved us, and I love her, but this area was where my parents failed. They didn't give me any wise instruction. That, in itself, became an instruction, I suppose. Even in the lack, there is something to be learned."

I felt bad for a moment after that. Everyone was waxing rosy about mothers and I had to be the naysayer. stupid cynicism. But, something happened. Everyone was nodding their heads. Out came stories about the good aspects of their mothers, hand in hand with stories of fly-swatter smacks, and physical encounters. In one moment this group of people had switched from the superficial talk surrounding Mother's Day, and moved into discussing the real aspects of mothers, children and learning to value the good traits our mothers possessed in spite of their faults, and the power of forgiveness and God in those relationships

Hearing some of the group's stories brought home the realization that every life has some sort of tragedy lurking in the background. We kid ourselves by not naming those tragedies. We give the appearance that everything is normally perfect in our lives, and that the trials we face are exceptions and intrusions.

It's simply not true. Thinking that way frames our lives in an "everything is good except when something goes wrong" mindset. Then, when something does go wrong, we are brought up short by our expectations of uninterrupted, peaceful living.

On the other hand, recognizing that life is always filled with disappointments and tragedy for everyone, can make us more thankful for the blessings we do have. I am not saying we need to be pessimistic in order to be optimistic, but that we need to be accepting of the fact that living is not easy. The longer you live the more likely something bad is going to happen to you. So, don't be surprised! :-)

I don't think I would make a very good motivational speaker.

One more example:

A few years ago, I read an article highlighting a local pastor and his church. It was in a weekly column that would focus on a new church/synagogue/place of worship each week. This particular article was spent interviewing the pastor on his background, experiences, and direction of his church.

In the interview he made a statement something like this,"Well, I've never had to face some of the problems that many people have. I have a happy family. We are doing well. God has blessed us." That statement stuck with me and troubled me. How can someone minister to people without understanding the struggle that life is? How can someone go that far in life and really say nothing bad has ever happened to them? Was it dishonesty? Was it a lack of self-awareness, or a lack of awareness of those around him? I wasn't sure, but it bothered me.

A year later he cheated on his wife and had to resign from his church, causing suffering for himself, his family, and his church.

As I remembered the earlier interview, it saddened me.

I've rambled quite a bit now, and I can't even blame the pain meds. I guess I'm just trying to work out what it is that I really think about what's been happening to me and my family--to lay out what's happening in the gray matter in my skull.

Well...that's enough for now. No need to torture the blogosphere anymore today.

Links

Can non-musicians differentiate between major and minor keys as well as musicians?

Cool illusion that shows how wrong our visual perceptions can be.

English-only advocate needs spell-checker.

Are Christians like Jesus?

I got to try out my treadmill last night, and today, and I am completely psyched.

The only downside was my 50 minute workout that left me sweaty, which in itself wasn't a problem until I went to take a shower and discovered that we have no water. Apparently, a water main broke up the block and they've shut down the water supply for our neighborhood until it's fixed. We've been without water for almost 8 hours now. I had to give the boys sponge baths with a gallon of drinking water that we had as part of our hurricane supplies.

I seriously hope we have water by morning, otherwise I am so going to be hating life.

I need a shower, people!....preferably, before I have to go to work in my very public job.

It's a Bird, It's a Plane, It's Father di Carli...

Coincidence?

A Brazilian priest, attempting to set a flight record for traveling by bright, helium balloons, goes missing.

Bizarre, unexplainable lights appear and hover in Pheonix, leaving the FAA and the Air Force scratching their heads.

I'm just sayin', someone who knew a little Portugeuse might have been able to solve these mysteries.

Bitter Gun Owners?

I don't own a gun. I'll probably never own a gun, unless I choose to go live in the mountain wilderness somewhere and need to protect myself from grizzlies and mountain lions.

I thought this article about happy gun-owners, in response to Obama's "bitter" comments was quite interesting, and not at all what I expected.

HT: Marginal Revolution.

Vance H. is too cool! He solved my gmail problem and should get an award for being a Good Samaritech!

Thanks!

Arrgh!

I can't get into my gmail accounts through Internet Explorer or Firefox. It keeps aborting my attempts. I feel so cut off. I could have 20 million dollars awarded to me by a Nigerian widow, and I can't even find out about it, let alone make use of the 39 offers for cheap Viagra that are surely waiting for me in my Spam folder.

What am I going to do?